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Blithe Spirit (1945)

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Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 14
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,329

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Movie Info

The Noel Coward/David Lean combination which turned out such dramas as Brief Encounter and This Happy Breed sets its sights on the viewer's funny bone with Blithe Spirit. Rex Harrison plays a novelist, newly married to straight-laced Constance Cummings. Via a seance, Harrison accidentally summons the spirit of his first wife, Kay Hammond. Believing that Hammond wants to ruin his marriage, Harrison enlists the services of local medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to exorcise Hammond's

Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

Directed By: David Lean

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1945 Wide

On DVD: Dec 9, 1998

Cast

Rex Harrison
Charles Condomine
Constance Cummings
Ruth Condomine
Kay Hammond
Elvira Condomine
Margaret Rutherford
Madame Arcati
Hugh Wakefield
George Bradman
Joyce Carey
Violet Bradman
Jacqueline Clark
Edith
Ken Richmond

Critic Reviews for Blithe Spirit

All Critics (14) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (2) | DVD (2)

Inasmuch as this is largely a photographed copy of the stage play [by Noel Coward], the camerawork is outstandingly good and helps to put across the credibility of the ghost story more effectively than the flesh and blood performance does.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

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Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Passably good, but it should have been better, what with Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, and Margaret Rutherford reading the Noel Coward lines.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

As the medium Madame Arcatti, Margareth Rutherford stole every scene in David Lean's screen adaptation of Nowel Coward's witty play.

February 21, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

A quicksilver cocktail.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

Nifty special effects for the time, and plenty of Coward's inimitable wit and repartee.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Time Out

[A] deliciously cheeky Noel Coward concoction...

October 31, 2005 Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher

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MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

It remains somewhat theatrical.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

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Film4

Worth it just for Margaret Rutherford as a sort of girls' school gamesmistres-style psychic!

February 23, 2003 Comment

Nell Minow

Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

The last word in witty repartee of the most civilized kind - the sort of thing Noel Coward was known for, and nobody did better.

February 2, 2003 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Blithe Spirit

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Fun filled and witty this is well acted by all and breezily directed but the whole thing is stolen by the wonderfully dotty Margaret Rutherford.

October 6, 2010

jay nixon

Super Reviewer

A comedic triumph for Lean. Once again he and Coward make a terrific pair. Cowards words sparkle on screen whilst Lean gives a wonderful visual appreciation, including some excellent (for the time) special effects. The film looks at death, mortality and romance in an incredibly unsentimental way. Always comedic and

September 11, 2008